NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



12: 



lieu of white, what do we find ? Soft shades of color 

 — the earth in brown and grey — the trees and 

 grass in green — the waters in blue and green — the 

 sky in blue; no white any where, except the few del- 

 icate flowers, and the wide, dreary waste of snow 

 in winter. 



It is true one shade of color will not answer in- 

 discriminately for all objects, whether large or 

 small, or in all situations; but as a general rule, 

 artists in colors give us the following: the smaller 

 the edifice or the more it is hidden by nature's 

 drapery of foliage and flowers, — the lighter shades 

 of coloring should be used; but in proportion as it 

 rises in dignity or importance, or the more exposed 

 by the barreness of the site, the warmer and darker 

 may be the coloring. 



As a. finale to this communication we take from 

 Downing's Cottage Residences (to which, with 

 Country Houses, by the same author, we refer J. W. 

 for correct taste in such matters) these remarks by 

 Uvedale Price: — "One of the most charming elTects 

 of sunshine, is its giving to objects not merely light, 

 but that mellow golden hue so beautiful in itself, 

 and which, when diffused as in a fine evening over 

 the whole landscape, creates that rich union and 

 harmony so enchanting in nature and Claude. In any j 

 scene, whether real or painted, when such harmo- 

 ny prevails, the least discordancy in color would 

 disturb the eye; but if we suppose a single object 

 of a glaring white to be introduced, the wiiole at- 

 tention, in spite of all our efforts to the contrary, 

 will be drawn to that one point; if many such ob- 

 jects be scattered about, the eye will be distracted 

 among them. Again, (to consider it in another 

 view,) when the sun breaks out in gleams, there is 

 something that delights and surprises, in seeing an 

 object before only visible, lighted up in splendor, 

 and then gradually sinking into shade; but a 

 whitened object is already lighted up; it remains 

 so when everything else has retired into obscurity; 

 it still forces itself into notice, still impudently 

 stares you in the face. An object of a sober tint, 

 unexpectedly gilded by the sun, is like a serious 

 countenance suddenly lighted up by a smile; a 

 whitened object like the eternal grin of a fool." 



Furthermore, Downing says — "There is one 

 color, however, frequently employed by some paint- 

 ers, which we feel bound to protest against most 

 heartily, as entirely unsuitable, and in bad taste. 

 This is white, which is so universally applied to our 

 wooden-houses of every size and description. The 

 glaring nature of this color, when seen in contrast 

 with the soft green of foliage, renders it extremely 

 unpleasant to an eye attuned to harmony of color- 

 ing, and nothing but its very great prevalence in 

 the United States could render even men of some 

 taste so heedless of its bad effect. No painter of 

 landscapes, that has possessed a name, was ever 

 guilty of displaying in his pictures a glaring while 

 house, but, on the contrary, the I)ui]dings introduced 

 by the great masters have uniformly a mellow, soft- 

 ened shade of color, in exquisite keeping with the 

 surrounding objects." 



If Uvedale Price and A. J. Downing are not au- 

 thority in matters of taste, pray who is? 



Boston, March 17, 1851. j. h. d. 



For the New England Far7Tier. 



MANURING GRASS LAND— PLOUGH- 

 ING IN OATS. 



When is the best time to put manure on mow- 

 ing land, is a question that may be answered pretty 

 much as the following; 



"Would yon know the best season to laugh and to sing, 

 'Tis suininer, 'tis autumn, 'lis winter, 'tis sjiriiij;." 



After near 50 years experience, I would say, 

 put manure on to mowing land at any time from 

 taking off a crop of hay, until the grass has fairly 

 started for another crop the following spring. If the 

 manure be coarse, it will iu)t do so well to ])ut it on 

 late, but if it is fine, it may be spread alter the 

 grass is up in the spring two inches, with good ef- 

 fect, more particularly if it should rain soon after; 

 and the better way is to spread the manure directly 

 from the cart or wagon, and not put it out in heaps 

 at all. And as to ploughing in oats, I would say 

 also, after about the same experience, where the 

 soil is dry and mellow, it is better to plough them in, 

 always supjiosing the ground to have been well and 

 deeply ploughed before, and harrowed previous to 

 sowing; then a shallow ploughing, with sufficient 

 harrowing, &c. after, to smooth off, does the work 

 up so as to give good prospect for a crop. 



An old Subscriber and Constant Reader. 



5^ A man too busy to take care of his health is 

 like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools. 



U^ Sheep abhor rains and wet in winter. These 

 injure them more than cold or dry snow. 



For the New Ens:land Farmer. 

 PREPARATION OP SEEDS. 



Mr. Cole: — Having often witnessed the des- 

 truction of seed, caused by the depredation of birds 

 upon grain fields, and the various expedients that 

 have been resorted to by farmers to guard their 

 fields against these depredators having generally 

 proved ineffectual, as a means of protection, it is 

 my purpose to excite some inquiry upon tliis sub- 

 ject by giving a statement made to me by a practi- 

 cal farmer, as the result of his experiments upon 

 the preparation of the seed, which he avers has re- 

 sulted in the discovery of a solution, by which 

 grain may be prepared, rendering it so distasteful 

 to any kind of fowls, that they cannot be induced 

 to pick it up. That he has tested this solution with 

 the seed for nine years, in five different localities, 

 and in no instance has it failed of protecting it from 

 the depredation of birds. That the cost of prepa- 

 ration does not exceed twenty-five cents for a bush- 

 el of seed, and is in no wise detrimental to its 

 growth. And that the test was particularly satis- 

 factory when his field was adjoining that of his 

 neighbor; the birds gathering in large numbers up- 

 on liis field, passing directly over that wliich he 

 had planted with the prepared seed. The solution 

 being yery simple in its composition, renders it 

 very difficult, if not impossible to demonstrate its 

 utility without exposing the secret; in that case no 

 letters patent could issue to secure an interest to 

 the inventor. 



The importance of such a discovery is fully sta- 

 ted by Hon. D:iniel Webster in a correspondence 

 with the inventor, from which I am permitted to 

 take an extract. — "If you have succeeded in such 

 a discovery, relating to the preparation of seed, you 

 have acconiplisiied something highly important. * 

 * * * Of course you are at liberty to prove the 

 utility of your discovery on any part of my farm, 

 and you will be at no expense for men, teams, or 

 ploughs, &;c." In consideration of tlie general im- 

 portance of such a discovery to the agricultural in- 



